By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
A memorial service held Friday at Chestnut Hill Cemetery honored victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well as emergency responders from Rowan County who died of natural causes over the past year.
But as Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz pointed out, the event was also intended to celebrate those who protect all of us on a daily basis.
“Words seem inadequate to thank you,” Kluttz said, referring to everyone from law-enforcement officers and firefighters to Emergency Medical Technicians.
The event ó held at the Salisbury-Rowan Firefighters’ Memorial on the cemetery’s south end ó started at 8:45 a.m. with a bagpipe presentation by David Thornburg. The service coincided with the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The gist of Friday’s service was held during the exact time that jets were slamming eight years earlier into the World Trade Towers. Almost 3,000 Americans died that day.
Speakers at Friday’s service included Kevin Auten, chief deputy with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, Carl Ford, chairman of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, and Kluttz.
Kluttz noted that the cities of New York and Washington suffered greatly as a result of the 9/11 attacks, but said smaller communities like Rowan County also felt the pain. While she was speaking, Kluttz mentioned Justin Monroe and Victor Isler, Salisbury’s firefighters who died in a blaze more than a year ago.
“We continue to pray for the souls of those we lost and their families,” Kluttz said. “Thanks to those who serve.”
Auten recalled the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I think everyone remembers where they were that day,” he said. “Even in the U.S., the greatest country in the world, we’re not immune from those cowardly acts.”
Ford read a proclamation that commissioners and elected leaders of most Rowan County municipalities passed designating Friday as Patriot Day.
Ford said that while Rowan County has more than 139,000 residents, fewer than 1,400 serve in law enforcement, firefighting or as members of local rescue squads. He noted that equals about 1.2 percent of the population.
“Often, their work goes unnoticed,” Ford said. “It’s sad, but true.”